DETROIT review

DETROIT

starring John Boyega, Will Poulter and Algee Smith

directed by Kathryn Bigelow

A review by Helen J. Reynolds


Detroit is not an entertaining movie. You won't laugh and cry, then, after all the ups and downs, leave feeling satisfied by the end. It isn't even a movie that will transport you back in time to the racial tensions during the 1967's uprising in Detroit. Instead, there's the uncomfortable feeling that you're simply watching the news. This did happen and is happening in America. Walter Scott (2015), Philando Castile (2016), Jordan Edwards (2017)... all unarmed, black victims killed by police with no accountability, no justice.

Like Kathryn Bigelow's previous works (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker), this isn't a movie to sit back, switch off and escape into a movie-world. She puts you right there, into the violence, into the chaos and there's nothing off-hand in how she crafts the story. Many movies nowadays skim over shootings; just showing you the bang and the blood, but Bigelow closes in on it. She follows the violence to its end and makes every death felt and counted.

 It isn't a perfect film. There are many characters that you want to have more backstory on, which the fast pace just doesn't allow for. Things have to move quickly so the night at the Algiers Motel (where three African American men were murdered) can be drawn out to its fullest. The court case that follows is only passed over briefly, perhaps to save the audience further outrage. Though actually how the investigation and subsequent court case was handled could have been a film all on its own. The recent Inside Story: The People v. OJ Simpson (2016) proves the power of closely following the justice system to show systemic corruption and how race is played out among jurors. 

 Will Poulter plays the antagonist in racist cop, Krauss. It's a brave role to take on, given his relationship to family friendly movies and comedies. He's easy to dislike as well as understand; his desire for control, power, and simplistic way of wanting to 'wrap things up' is repulsive, but certainly realistic for many of those in authority who really shouldn't be.

Larry (Algee Smith) is the main star of Detroit - despite misleading trailers showcasing Star Wars star John Boyega (he does have a significant role in the film, but it's a supporting one). Larry's character has a full arc and while you feel attached to all the characters, his transformation gives the film its necessary message. Cocky with his talent and hungry for the big stage, he's reduced to singing for his life. The trauma of the night changes him deeply and it's impossible not to feel that.
 
Without doubt, this movie will make you feel.  

A combination of:
13th (2016) 
Dreamgirls (2006) 
Schindler's List (1993)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD review

Image
THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson  directed by Patrick Hughes A review by Helen J. Reynolds The Hitman's Bodyguard is a calculating comedy involving fascist governments, killer romance and cars that smell like arse.  Ryan Reynolds plays Michael, a self-named Triple A protector for the rich cats whose successful career takes a nosedive after a client ends up with his brains splattered over a plane window. That one didn't go quite to plan... Plan B sees him roped into protecting a witness for the trial against dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (the very excellent Gary Oldman). But the witness isn't just any witness, he's Samuel L. Jackson, here playing Darius Kincaid, a renowned assassin doing hard time. There's nothing revolutionary in the plotting of this comedy, but there are some great jokes. The romance between Jackson and Salma Hayek (playing his wife) is easily the best part of the movie. It gives Jackson the h...
Read more

FREE FIRE review

Image
FREE FIRE   starring Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson and Armie Hammer   directed by Ben Wheatley   A review by Helen J. Reynolds Free Fire tries to be a lot of things – from a 70s western, to a mafia stitch up – but namely it tries to be fun. An all-out shoot ‘em up movie that instead of a standard ten or even thirty-minute scene of bullets flying like crazy and everyone dubbed a ‘cocksucker’, it lasts for the entire feature length. Try to imagine if Quentin Tarantino did a theatre play, and in fact this does have elements of Tarantino’s last feature The Hateful Eight , which is set around a dismal bar during a snow blizzard and has a stage-like quality to it. In Free Fire , the setting is similarly grounded, though in an abandoned umbrella factory that leads to some nice irony at the end. However, adding flashbacks and dialogue with meaning (rather than just for the odd laugh) would have helped give interest to the rather long-winded action. All ...
Read more

Christmas Movies

Image
You know you’re getting old when Christmas movies are purely a DVD dive instead of a cinema visit. They just don’t make ’em like they used to ... Here are my top five:  The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992) A classic within a classic. Best to view on Christmas Eve for that moment when Kermit's coming home from work and stops for a skate and a song with the penguins, and you realise it really is ‘just one more sleep til Chrissstmasss’. Also enjoyable is the Santa Cam when we fly across the rooftops in Scroorge’s past. Can there be anything more Christmassy than Victorian chimneys in the snow? Love Actually (2003) Actually my partner’s favourite – it’s filled with enough humour that men need not run to the hills rather than watching this ‘chick flick’. Yes, that warm fuzzy feeling is all around and could be stomach churning for those with a high gag reflex. However, the relationships are centred in truth, often without the ro...
Read more